Page 84 of So I Won a Werelion

“Maybe Bjorn could move him there and we can bring him to the healer?” Marissa suggested.

“Might not be a good idea to move him—”

Marissa glared at Bjorn.

“He could have internal injuries that I could make worse.”

“Either you move him, or Blaire and I will do it. You’re a big strong bear. The chances of you being gentle with him are a little better than ours.”

Bjorn grunted, and waited for Bibi to hop out of the van before he climbed in.

Bibi’s eyes were wide.“I give him a hard time because I know what he’s capable of. But maybe I’m too hard on him…”

“He’s gonna be alright,”I assured her. But when Bjorn emerged from the van with a completely limp Hugo in his arms, his bald head covered in blood, I wasn’t so sure.

Blaire pulled the baby seat out of the back of her car and tossed it in the parking lot so Bjorn could place Hugo in there. Marissa had barely had a chance to get in the car before Blaire took off.

Bjorn motioned to the broken, bloody van. “Ready to kick some ass?”

Chapter

Twenty-Eight

Wendy

It felt like we were driving in circles and I’d been in here forever. It was hot and I was gagging on whatever nasty thing had been shoved in my mouth. Reality was blurry, and I kept zoning out, like I was falling asleep, but it was much worse than that. So I made my brain recall facts to keep myself from passing out.

Every time I pulled on the ropes, they got tighter. All those self-defense videos I’d saved on my phone were doing fuck all when I needed them.

Just when I was about to tell Gabe I was ready to go all in and be his mate, this happened. If I lived to see him again, I made a promise to myself to never hold back again.

The car came to a stop. Muffled voices came from the front of the car, and they were getting louder. More urgent. Like they were arguing. Great, they couldn’t decide how they wanted to torture me. But the likelihood that something horrible was about to happen was better than I wanted it to be, and I had to come up with a plan.

I had to stay strong, clear, and remember everything I heard.

The trunk opened and these goons grabbed at me in places that would have earned a slap if my hands were free. I had no idea if my tassel pasties survived the kidnapping, but my thong was nowhere near where it should have been.

Someone lifted me, and I wriggled as hard as I could in his arms.

“I knew you’d be trouble,” he gritted into my ear. “And it looks like this body can take a lot of punishment.”

He slapped my ass, and the bastard had the nerve to laugh. Ugh, he stunk like wolf. And not in a good way. Like one that just rolled over a dead thing.

“That’s what I thought. You talk a big game but you have absolutely nothing to back it up.”

I didn’t react, because all I could really do as he tightened his grip on me was flop like a fish. So I concentrated on the sensations. The way his shirt felt against my skin. The scents. And the commotion that was happening as they were bringing me to what I hoped would not be my final destination.

The man grunted as he put me down on the ground. He held onto my hands, untying them, but my freedom was short-lived. Another person grabbed my arm and jerked it behind me. I was being tied up again, this time against a pole.

The covering came off my head and Derek Jared stood in front of me, grinning. There were at least a half dozen other men there. More than that, but I was still lightheaded, and I might have been seeing double. Some of them seemed familiar—they’d been at the groundbreaking. Others were local real estate guys.

My former coworkers.

At the Orchid Lounge, they’d covered their faces. But here, they didn’t think there was any need to. Moon help me, I was in trouble.

I blinked and looked down at myself. One of the tassels had survived. At this angle, I couldn’t see the thong. I’d neverthought I’d be thankful that my legs were tied together, but here we were.

Wait a minute. There was my neglected exercise equipment, and some old furniture I swore I was going to sell online one of these days.

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